Opinions please on lighting, Main living area

mlweaving_MarjiDecember 4, 2013

The lighting order is going in in a few weeks, so I'm checking all the selections again for compatibility so that I don't regret my choices down the road. I'd like a house where for the most part the selections look like they were meant for the same residence. I've got a good track record for choosing what I like then looking at choices later and trying to make the look cohesive.

Great room floor plan with proposed furniture plan

Standing in the Great Room looking towards the kitchen one will be able to see the dining room Chandelier, the kitchen pendants and the breakfast room pendant. If one turns their head the entry chandelier might also be visible.

The givens are the dining room and B'fst room. DR Chandelier is Waterford, from the 20's, and the b'fast rm pendant is one I've had since the early 90's.
Originally I'd chosen a very popular pendant for over the island, but it had a real industrial vibe to it, and better senses prevailed so I changed my mind - twice.

For now I'd just like your feedback on the main living area lighting. I'll put the bedroom choices into a different post.
The piece that probably really doesn't fit is the dragonfly light. But I think I'm committed to using it.
What do you think of the island pendants given the other fixtures?

There will be a ceiling fan overhead in the living area, it's the South and necessary. The ceiling in the living area is vaulted, with a large dormer bringing in north-eastern natural lighting. There will also be 4 recessed lighting cans in the ceiling in the living room.
There will be 3 eyeballs in the ceiling in the dining room, in the part not up in the tray, to focus light on artwork that will go on the walls.
In the kitchen in addition to the 2 pendants there will be recessed lighting and under cabinet lighting.

I'll worry about lamps etc later. Suffice it to say that most LR lighting will come from lamps.

It's hard to comment as it's also a function of the styles of the rooms, but they look nice. The only thing I would question is the kitchen looks very contemporary vs the dragon flies...which I love! And those 2 are very open to each other. And the dining room looks very formal fancy, which is fine if the rest of the furnishings are too....but as a grouping, that's what I notice.

Margi: is the link below still what you are selecting for your kitchen? Are the finishes selected?

I agree with the others that the dragonfly light is distinctly different than the others. In particular, the pendants (while lovely) probably should tie better in together, since they are so close together. The other spaces are a little more separated. I'm getting a slight Craftsman vibe (shape, stained glass) to the dragonfly light and in the mullion detail on your upper cabinets (except in white). You've also got some beautiful blues going on there and in the granite and in the island.

So perhaps some traditional lighting with some Craftsman influence is the design brief? Maybe with a touch of the lighter blue that is in the other shade?

Thanks for looking and giving feedback.
Annie, I asked for input on the kitchen forum last July, and based upon advice from there changes were made, so what you're looking at here is not the final kitchen plan. I don't have in digital format the birdseye view, but I do have the new elevations.
The sink is still in the island, but has been moved down a bit so it's not directly across the stove, the range hood is now under a mantel cabinet piece, and the steam oven is in a tall cabinet at the end of the long counter run. Next to the refrig is a pantry cabinet.

Gooster, we ended up changing the granite on the perimeter to soapstone when we went to the stoneyard to choose our slabs. The Blue Pearl they had in stock was very grey, no blue in evidence at all, and it had scratches that I wasn't excited about.
I'm still a bit up in the air about cabinet hardware. I ordered 3 sets of pulls and knobs from 3 diff vendors, and the clear choice here was the Restoration Hardware Lugarno pull and a knob from them too, but I'm still looking.

Suero, the island is only 8' plus a bit maybe. I think that 4 lights, no matter how small, will be too crowded.
I started out trying to choose a Murano artglass pendant, but we couldn't find any in blue. They were all gold/red/and greens, colors that would have worked wonderfully in my post houses! When I did find some that brought in the blue, the wattage on the pendants was something like 40w. That isn't enough light, and I need these to function. So I went back to looking at white.

I'm trying to find a balance between the very traditional and formal fixtures and furnishings we own, and the more casual Low Country architecture and location that we're building in. And it's a challenge. Mtnrdredux, you suggested a more casual pendant, Any ideas?
Actually, maybe I should be thinking about a different fixture for over the table. Argh.

Across the room, on the fireplace wall we have custom color built-ins going in. This will be our wet bar and will house a rather large crystal glass collection, that we use frequently, a wine refrig that will be stocked, and on the other side bookcases which will be full of books.

In the dining room I will have my Baker dining table, 4 antique side chairs and 2 Hickory Chair upholstered arm chairs. All those need reupholstering. My furniture:,

and I'm looking at ways of doing the wainscotting that are distinctly low country and not so colonial.
example 1

Just FYI, this was the first pendant I'd picked, which really really doesn't work and isn't me at all. I think I've been influenced by looking at a bazillion pictures. This has a real industrial edge to it, and I could see myself looking at this in two years and saying "what was I thinking?"

Gooster, I think you're right in that htere is just a slight craftsman influence going on in my design aesthetic, but it's subtle.

This is the 54" round table (has 2 leaves too), solid mahogany, that I bought a few weeks ago for our bkfast area. I took these pics in the consignment store. I had to take all the stuff off hte top to see what condition it was actually in. Dh has already refinished it, and it's beautiful.

Wow marji, your home is going to be beautiful. I love the colors that you have going on. I like the pendants for your kitchen, I love the dragonfly light for your breakfast room. But I can see that there might be a better choice for them together. I'm probably not the right person to tell you what a better option is, however. Maybe something like this? Same colors but new shape.

What a beautiful kitchen table! You must be so pleased to find that one. Your fireplace mockup will look beautiful as well, I see the color and mullion detail being carried forward.

I'm sorry you could not find good Blue Pearl in your area. I'm certain you'll love the soapstone. I considered soapstone and the Lugarno pulls in my final decision. They will look great with your other choices.

But I will point out that many 40W fixtures can take an LED bulb just fine, depending on their socket type. The 13W plus LED can deliver a higher output than a regular incandescent 40W, and can be chosen in a relative warm color depth.

Not much help here, but, wow, that breakfast table is drool worthy!!!! is there any other blue in your kitchen? Perhaps a pendant with some blue or some other color from the dragonfly light fixture?? Oh, never mind, I see you explored that option. Maybe a shape that's similar to the dragonfly light but in white like the one above?

Gooster, I just realized that your lights are very similar to what I've picked. Your finished kitchen is in my cache of inspiration kitchens, which I went back to in search of alternative lighting. I LOVE your kitchen!

nosoccermom, Thanks! The backsplash tile I've chosen is a honed marble with blue azul diamonds, and they are very blue.
Also, the island base cabinets will be that custom blue we are using in the living room built-ins. Which it seems now we are committed to using for the island, in order to get the custom color. We don't have enough cabinetry in the LR to have them do up a custom color, but adding the island base, which I wanted blue in the first place, gets us there.

So, I've been playing with the photoshop again.
Anyone up for a poll? I'm going to refrain from stating my preference waiting to see what everyone thinks.
I've tried to scale these as well as I can, given that I know the size of the light fixtures that Subee used in her kitchen, which is what I'm using as my example here. Wish I could have found one with the right layout that had a dark base island, but this is going to have to do.
Option 1 - Thanks Kellie for finding these.
edit to change scale, I just looked, realized these lights are only 6" across, would need 3 of these.

of the ones you photoshopped, i think option 1 works best, but i don't love those either...
i really like option 4, but not as much with your table light...
i almost think if you find something that's different enough- like option 5- but more cohesive with the table light than those are, that would be best... guess that doesn't help too much... :(

Wow, your home is going to be gorgeous. I love your breakfast table and can't wait to see it in place.

I think option one is the best but it would be awesome if you could find them in blue.

BTW, I love the Hinkley Plantation light you chose for your entry door. My original choice for pendant lighting in the kitchen was the mini chandelier in that series but changed it to the Schonbek crystal pendants that I fell in love with.

I like the hat shapes that echo the Dragonfly light, either like 1 or in a blue. I'd prefer #1 if it had thicker strapping, I think. Perhaps our opinions might shift if the kitchen in the photo had your selected mullions and beautiful blue island.

Marji: Yes, that light is very similar, and I love the one your found, I just don't think it relates as well to your other light. And thanks again for the love!

I love the dragon fly when I see it alone. But when I look at all your other light fixtures and stuff if seems a little out of place.
If you do keep the dragon fly light I like option 1 which mimics the shape of the dragon fly like others have said.

Agree with the others your house is going to be beautiful.
You are putting so much thought into everything.

I want to thank everyone for your input.
MtnRR, you bring up a good point, so I went back to look at the size of my island. It's 51x92''+/- an inch, so six inch pendants simply won't do.
And Gooster, You're right, Subee's kitchen isn't my kitchen. So I went and did this mock up. I don't have the software nor the skill to mock up the right floor plan, so I had to stick a sepia version of the table plus the dragonfly pendant in the front of the picture.

I really really thought everyone would say that the number one option above was too matchy matchy. Maybe now if I could find it in a larger pendant, not a mini pendant, I'd use it, but that light is too small. I've looked at probably a thousand pendants again in the last two days. I'm wiped out.

Nosoccermom, thank you for looking for so many blue lights. I've photoshopped them in, and for a variety of reasons none of them are any more right, especially in light of the other decor. I actually really like the first one you posted, but it's too small and probably not the right style for the dragonfly anyway.

Ineffable space, if the only consideration were the dragonfly lamps what you posted might be absolutely perfect, but since the dragonfly is the cuckoo in the nest, I'm not certain that adding another cuckoo is the right thing to do.

Holly-Kay, I've loved those plantation pineapple lights for so long. They were a given before we even spec'd out a single thing. Glad to know you like them.

Akshars, Busybee3 and Annie, I'm keeping the dragonfly lamp for the time being. I like it and it was made just for me. My specific lamp is still in storage, and I haven't seen it for 4 years. When we empty the boxes from storage we'll have the builders hang it, and maybe it'll just have to be one of those things that are quirky to a house that make it a home and not something that a pro decorator has totally coordinated.

At the moment, after all this exercise, I'm still thinking that the pendants that I originally posted here repeat the lines in the cabinet mullions and fit the space well, and I really have grown to like them a lot. I'm going to keep looking for something close to what Kellie posted in a regular, not mini, pendant.

Worst scenario is that I put in a light over the table in the bkfast room that doesn't coordinate too well with the other elements in the room - that cuckoo in the nest. Worse things have happened.

Again, I really appreciate all the input. Makes me really consider the choices.
I'm almost afraid to post about the master bedroom selections - I suspect they'd be outta here in a heartbeat! (It's because I'm already second guessing those the most)

marji-no help here, but you have some really cool selections. I too like the dragonfly and it being in hiding for 4 years - you need to keep it! I do like how the pendants that kellie posted echo the shape of the dragonfly light. Truthfully I like all of your selections (even the industrial one that you decided against). Have you finalized?

marji-this did come to mind. They have it at Ferguson's and the collection has many options. Kind of modern but I think the glass is more classic. I have the mini-pendant and dining room light clipped...but yikes the dining room light is pricey.

First off, I'm an idiot. I read the specs wrong on the light that most everyone preferred, the one that KellieNoelle posted a ways back. The canopy that attaches at the ceiling is 6", the light itself is 14". So it works. And as much as I love the Sonneman drum pendant, it wasn't working which was the cause of all my uneasiness with the room, so I've given it up and changed it out. Saved a boatload of $ doing that too.
Enough to be able to swap out the entry fixture for the Arteriors light that I fell in love with while looking for something more fun for the powder room. And I found the perfect sea glass pendant for the powder room!

If I understood Ineffable_space above, I've gotten rid of the deco-modern piece that didn't fit, and all the others are some sort of traditional. I can live with that.
I'm also slowly working toward my goal for this house of a coastal low-country but traditional vibe. So I think the selections are getting lighter, airier, and a bit more lighthearted. But I think they'll also really work with the formal furniture I'm bringing with me.